'Mascot' deer shot dead by hunter

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 23 - A deer called Bamobotto or 'Big Bambi' that was the mascot of a northern Italian village has been shot dead by a hunter in an incident that has spurred local indignation and sorrow, local media reported Monday.
    The seven-year-old animal lived in symbiosis with the residents of Pecol, in the comune of San Tomaso Agordino near Belluno.
    It had become a TV star on the Linea Bianca programme and was wont to come up to house windows to be stroked and fed.
    A local animal rights campaigner, Claretta, said on Facebook: "Public opinion condemns the act without ifs or buts. The anonymous and cowardly local hunter has not even put his hand up for this vile act. But they say that everyone in the village knows who is the author of this despicable act." the national president of the Italian league for the defence of animals and the environment, longtime animal rights activist and former minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla, said "what has happened is simply disgusting and it continually happens in our woods during hunting season.
    "A heartless 23-year-old hunter murdered Bambotto for fun, protectd by the law that permits hunting. Bambotto was not even a wild animal, he was a friend to the inhabitants of Pecol. Well done, what bravery to kill an animal like that". (ANSA).